I have a cousin that "borrowed" his Dad's pre-29 five screw .44 magnum in its black box one night we cousins were out driving around in his '69 Cougar, beer drinking road trip. We had stopped for a leak, he pulled the .44 out and exclaimed "Watch this." Pulled the trigger and deafened all of us in the car while blinding us with the muzzle flash...Impressive? FYah! We all shot it and one of the things that I found impressive were the little red check marks left on my hand from the hardly used Cokes. When I finally got a .44 magnum it was after shooting a buddies Ruger Super Blackhawk. I preferred the way the barrel flipped with recoil, taking quite a bit away from the hand and wrist. Later I had to have a Model 29 and still own it, its a 4" four screw and I will admit I much prefer shooting my .44 special revolvers and modified Ruger Super Blackhawk.